MISHAWAKA, Ind. — Stuart Aeschliman scored twice in the first half to extend his team-leading season total to 8, but Goshen College dropped a 4-2 Crossroads League decision on the road Wednesday night at Bethel College's Morey Field.

Half of the match's goals came in the first quarter-hour, with Bethel's Samuel Biek posting an unassisted tally in the 10th minute and following up on an assist from Jardel Oliveira Santos 88 seconds later before Aeschliman scored on an Ollie Smith assist with 30:30 left in the half.

The Maple Leafs had a pair of chances to equalize: Aeschliman had another shot saved from 12 yards out in the 18th minute, and Nate Nussbaum hit the target but found a defender just before the midpoint of the half. Goshen (5-5, 0-1) also suffered an offside flag before Aeschliman leveled the score at 2 in the 34th minute.

Bethel (7-2-1, 1-0) outshot Goshen 6-5 before halftime, although the Pilots failed to put a shot on target outside of their two scores. The Maple Leafs finished the half with a 7-4 edge in free kicks and posted a similar 8-5 advantage in the second half.

Jimmelle Ramkissoon had the first scoring chance of the second half for GC, missing wide less than six minutes after play resumed, and Matt Granitz also missed in the 64th minute seconds after a Nussbaum attempt was saved. After mustering one shot in the first 20 minutes after halftime, Bethel followed that up with three in a four-minute span and Biek finished his hat trick with 20:21 remaining for a 3-2 lead.

Finn Luben added an insurance goal for BC in the 78th minute; both second-half tallies, like one of each team's first-half goals, were unassisted.

The Maple Leafs got six saves from Johan Escalante, while Bethel's Philip Keller recorded three. The Pilots took two of the match's three corners. Bethel finished with 13 shots to Goshen's 11, although Aeschliman's 5 was the individual match high.

Notable Numbers:

2 x 5: Aeschliman's two-goal game was Goshen's fifth of the season: Aeschliman has three of them (also turning the trick on Aug. 24 against Holy Cross and Sept. 15 against IU East), while Lucas Bontreger and Ramkissoon have one each.

0: The Maple Leafs were one of two teams in the Crossroads League to avoid the referee's book on the opening day of Crossroads League action; with the exception of GC and Mount Vernon Nazarene, which drew with Indiana Wesleyan, the other eight conference teams all received at least one card.

11: Goshen hit double digits in the shot column for the sixth straight time in a meeting with Bethel.

Up Next: Saturday, Sept. 29 — Grace at Goshen, 7 p.m.